


Master and Man

by amsves



Series: Master and Man (and Other Stories) [19]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Dubious Consent, Extremely Dubious Consent, Fist Fights, Loss of Bodily Autonomy, M/M, Possession, Sass, Scarpia Ultimatum, Series Finale, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 18:14:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17688404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: “Slade, there’s been an intrusion. Looks like--looks like the Titans have new backup.”[Bad Things Happen Bingo]





	Master and Man

**Author's Note:**

> The FINAL INSTALLMENT in this series is finally upon us! Not to say that Bingo is over, because I have two more square open (see Tumblr for more details). But this series must come to an end, and what better way to end it than with a request I've had literally since I started this challenge--the 'scarpia ultimatum' square. Ngl, I didn't want to write this one because I knew that I had to get it absolutely right, and I don't know if I finally did it, but at least I gave it my all. Thank you, Anon, for being so patient. 
> 
> Let's begin!

“Well, well.” 

Robin whipped around. There, behind him, in the main room of Slade’s hideout, was a boy much younger than himself, wearing a brightly colored uniform with which he was intimately familiar. His blood ran cold.

“Would you look at what I found?” the boy continued, a relaxed smirk on his masked face. “If it isn’t the Golden Boy, B’s pride and joy, one half of the dynamic duo. Do any of those ring a bell?” 

The boy took a step towards Robin. Robin’s hand flew to the communicator in his ear. “Slade, there’s been an intrusion. Looks like--” he swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat, “Looks like the Titans have new backup.”

_ “I suspected as much,” _ his Master sighed into Robin’s ear.  _ “If my intel is correct, this boy is from Gotham, too. Be careful when you take him out.”  _

The boy was still talking. “It was a low blow when you ran away for Jump City, but this? This is so low it breaks the scale. Heroism just not doing it for ya anymore? Need a bigger thrill? You’re a circus boy; it wouldn’t be surprising if you were an adrenaline junkie. Does working for the bad guys get your blood pumping?”

_ “I can feel your heart rate increasing,” _ Slade murmured.  _ “Stay calm. Do not let this adversary rile you.” _

_ Easier said than done _ , Robin thought, but he knew better than to say it out loud. He faced the intruder, presenting what he hoped was a neutral face. “Are the Titans here?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?” the boy teased, and Robin raised the blaster on his arm to point at him. The boy jumped back, hands raised. “Geez, calm down, Golden Boy. Of course they’re here! They wouldn’t miss a chance to reunite with their old pal.”

“Tell me where they are.”

“Put the laser down first.”

“I asked you to  _ tell me where they are _ .”

The boy sighed. “Alright, fine.” He smiled. “Behind you.”

Robin whirled around, and was greeted by empty space. He had enough time to think  _ oh shit _ before a solid kick to the head knocked him to the ground. The boy’s foot landed on his head a second later, keeping him on the floor. “I can’t believe someone like you would fall for that,” he lamented, though Robin could hear the glee in his voice. “I guess you really aren’t the same person you were before. It’s a shame, really. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but you broke B’s heart. He’s always thought of you as his own son.”

Robin grabbed the boy’s ankle and  _ twisted _ . The boy yelped and suddenly there was no weight keeping Robin down. He sprang up and took a swing.

The boy was good. Robin had suspected as much, seeing as he was trained by Batman, but the way he was able to easily dodge every kick or swing while still managing to get in a few of his own really proved it. His easy, taunting smile never wavered, not even on the rare occasion that Robin got a good hit in. 

“Maybe you should give up, Golden Boy,” the boy suggested lightly. “If you stop this, I’ll take you to the police. We can get you transferred to a prison in Gotham if you’d like, or you could stay here. However you’d like to spend your time inside is up to you--I’m not sure how long you’d get for multiple accounts of grand larceny, but I’m sure it’s long enough that you’d have a preference. But, if you don’t quit--” Robin doubled over as the boy roundhouse kicked him clean in the stomach, “I might have to resort to more … morally gray actions to stop you.”

“Stopping a villain using illegal means?” Robin rasped. “How do you think Batman would feel about that?”

The boy’s smile vanished, replaced by cold determination. “He’s too far away to have an opinion on my methods right now. As long as I get the desired result, I should be fine, right? Besides, what’s a few stab wounds between friends?”

The batarang slashed Robin’s side, but he managed to avoid the worst of it. The communicator crackled in his ear.  _ “Robin, what are you doing?” _ Slade seethed.  _ “Finish him!” _

“I’m trying,” Robin hissed through gritted teeth. “He was trained by Batman, and--”

_ “You have been trained by  _ _ me _ _ ,” _ Slade interrupted.  _ “Training should not be an issue. End him. Now.” _

“I can’t--agh!” It felt like lightning was coursing through his skin. Every nerve was on fire. He felt himself moving, darting almost too fast for him to see between the boy’s jabs and kicks and returning each landed one threefold. The tides of the fight had definitely turned in Robin’s favor, but he felt sick. “Slade, stop!”

“Slade?” the boy asked. “Is he controlling you? Is that why you got so much better all of a sudden?”

_ “You told me you were unable to finish this fight yourself,” _ Slade rasped in Robin’s ear, a thousand times louder and more grating than before.  _ “I told you before--I would replace your suit with one like Terra’s and you would be none the wiser until you made me use this function. This is your own fault, Robin.” _

It was like watching a movie, seeing his own body perform actions he didn’t command. Robin watched with horror as he finally got the upper hand on the boy. Robin knocked him on his back and slowly, agonizingly, held one of the boy’s own batarangs against his exposed throat.

_ “Interrogate him,” _ Slade said, and Robin did.

“What’s your name.”

“J-jason,” the boy--Jason--whimpered, the slight movement of his throat causing the batarang to dig in ever so slightly. “Jason Todd. But I’m also the new Robin--or, well, the same Robin, according to public knowledge.”

“Why are you here, and not in Gotham.”

“Batman sent me to replace you in the Teen Titans. He said it would be bad for their image if you deserted them for the dark side, so we were hoping the general populace wouldn’t notice that I had taken your place.”

“Where are the other Titans.”

“They’re not here.” Robin pressed the batarang down. “I swear! They’re still in the Tower. I came by myself. I do that sometimes, even back in Gotham. I wasn’t going to engage, but I didn’t want to let this opportunity go to waste, so I tried to take you out anyways.”

“Does Batman want me dead.”

Jason looked a little surprised at that question, but he answered regardless. “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. He asked me to take care of you, but I’m pretty sure he just wants you locked up in jail. I wasn’t lying when I said he loved you like a son.”

“Do the Titans know you’re here.”

“No. They could try and track my communicator, but it’s not on. They might guess this is where I am, but they couldn’t know for certain.”

_ “You’ve gotten everything useful out of him,” _ Slade informed his apprentice.  _ “Kill him.”  _

“No!” Robin protested, but he placed more pressure on the batarang anyways. “Slade, no! I don’t want to kill him. Please, I’ll do anything. Just don’t make me a murderer. Please.”

“You swore to me on the very first day that you would do  _ anything _ , Robin,” Slade said. Suddenly he was right behind Robin, his heavy hand placed controllingly on Robin’s shoulder. “I don’t remember there being any caveats in that promise. Do as I say.”

Slade dropped his control of Robin, and the apprentice flopped to the ground. He scrambled to his knees and clasped his hands in supplication. “Please, Master,” Robin begged, tears threatening to flow. “Don’t make me do this. I really will do anything. Please, please,  _ please _ \--”

Slade grabbed Robin by the chin and wrenched his head up. “You’re awfully fond of that word ‘anything,’” he sneered, “But it’s precisely because you use it so often that I doubt you understand what it means. Would you enslave countless others to save this one boy? Would you bring this city, this country, or even the world to its knees? Would you give your body in eternal service to me, your  _ Master _ ?” He dropped Robin back to the floor. 

“Yes,” Robin breathed. “I swear, anything you want.”

Slade’s hands slid from Robin’s neck to his shoulders, and then down his torso. “Then make good on your promise,  _ boy _ . I already control your body. Give it to me willingly, without restraint. Hand yourself over to the lion to be eaten.”

“I will.” 

“Get out of here, replacement,” Slade mocked, staring down Jason. “Tell your lofty Gotham friends that Deathstroke the Terminator does not lose to little boys in pixie boots.”

Jason scrambled to his feet and sprinted out of sight. Robin and Slade were alone. 

“Now, where were we?” Slade said silkily, gently pushing Robin backward until his shoulder blades were touching the cold stone ground. 

“Where’s Terra?” Robin asked breathily. “Shouldn’t we--”

Slade placed a finger on Robin’s lips, silencing him. “She’s sleeping, dear apprentice. You should try not to wake her.”

“She could wake up on her own.”

“I have full control of her body right now. It’s just you and me, kid, for as long as we need. Oh, and I know I said I wanted you to offer yourself willingly, but there’s just one thing I’m not willing to leave up to such a disobedient dog.” Robin’s eyes slammed shut. “No peeking.” 

With sight eliminated, Slade’s melodious baritone growl and his velvety touch filled all of Robin’s consciousness. He felt pain like he had never experienced before, and then a twisted form of pleasure, and then his Master ordered him to sleep, and he felt nothing else.

* * *

 

In the morning (at least, he assumed it was morning, but there were no windows), Robin found that he was able to open his eyes. He blinked the sleep out of them and glanced around. 

Slade was sitting in his computer chair, observing the young Jason. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he drawled. “I’ve been thinking: since this boy wants to replace you as Robin, and you’re hardly the same hero you used to be, it’s high time we got you a new name, one more conducive to the type of work you do now.” He turned to face his apprentice. “How do you feel about ‘Renegade’?”

_ fin _

**Author's Note:**

> The title is borrowed from a short story by Leo Tolstoy. In his version, the Master learns an important lesson and the piece's tone over is both heartwarming and bittersweet. This is not Tolstoy's version, but I liked the title so I kept it. 
> 
> Interestingly enough, I have wanted since the beginning to incorporate a quote from one of Tolstoy's other short stories (Strider: the Story of a Horse) and even had all these cool scenes in my head where Slade would quote it as a cool villainous monologue, but it never fit properly in-universe. Here it is:
> 
> _"...people are guided in life not by actions but by words. They enjoy not so much the chance to do or not to do something as the chance to apply to objects certain words of predetermined meaning. Among the words to which they attach the greatest importance are my and my own, which they apply to all kinds of different creatures and objects—even to land, people, horses. They have agreed among themselves that only one person has the right to apply my to any one object. And according to the rules of the game (agreed upon beforehand), the person who can apply the word my to the greatest number of objects is considered the happiest."_
> 
> Anyways, thanks so much for playing along, everyone! Like I mentioned before, there are two more squares open on my bingo card (as of the time I'm writing this author's note, anyways) so feel free to claim them in [my inbox](http://www.skeletoncloset.tumblr.com/ask)! It's been real :)


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